TECHNATION is a Canadian national technology industry association, representing companies across the ICT sector and acting as a key bridge between industry and government. It works to drive Canada’s digital economy through policy advocacy, industry collaboration, talent development, and support for innovation and global expansion.
What would you say your members are experiencing on the ground in terms of growth, hiring, investment and market conditions in Canada?
It’s no surprise that there’s a fair amount of turbulence in the tech space. AI has made significant impacts across the sector, both from a product development standpoint but also in how it’s being used by clients. Our members are telling us that government investment in technology spending is lower than it has been, with fiscal constraints impacting growth for companies focused on the public sector.
Global geopolitics and economic trends are also making competition a lot stiffer across geographies. While I would say that the outlook is positive, it’s pretty tight for our sector.
How do you balance and reflect the differing priorities between SMEs and multinationals within Canada’s tech ecosystem?
We try to reach consensus and speak as an industry with one voice. When we look at the opportunity for Canada, there’s enough to go around for companies of all sizes, whether they’re working with the government or in the B2B space. Our focus is on ensuring companies can access the full ecosystem we’ve built in Canada and have the opportunity to grow, whether they’re small or large. There’s also a clear opportunity for small firms to tuck in under larger players, where those larger players have industry-leading solutions implemented across multiple markets.
The challenge for SMEs is accessing scalable opportunities. They often take on incremental pieces of projects owned by larger companies, which can provide experience but not enough to truly develop and scale. Governments need to carve out more meaningful workloads for SMEs and create opportunities for them to operate at scale within programmes. There is a significant transformation opportunity in Canada that is long overdue, and SMEs can play a major role in that—if they are given the chance to participate meaningfully; otherwise, they risk remaining confined to lower-value work.
What is preventing Canada’s strengths in talent, research and innovation from translating into sustained scale and global competitiveness?
One of the benefits large companies have is access to people at scale who can help with exports and commercialization, supporting SMEs in accessing global markets. If you look at GDP productivity, it’s just under 300 billion in Canada, while ICT sector exports in the same timeframe are about 46 billion. So there is a clear opportunity to grow and bring more of Canada to the world.
Where SMEs face challenges is in understanding access to global markets, gaining initial experience, and finding commercial opportunities. Government can play a role here. BDC and EDC have been funded in defence to create access points for SMEs. We need similar programs in other areas, with a strong focus on commercialization, productivity, job creation and helping companies move from good to great and scale globally.
What advantages does Canada offer, and how should it balance its relationship with the US while expanding globally?
Some benefits are intangible, but there are tangible ones like having a stable marketplace. Canada’s reputation as a middle power has value, and countries embrace that brand, although the investment climate and tax environment may need to become more competitive. Stability, improving interprovincial trade, and building exports will all help, alongside North American integration and over 20 trade agreements that provide global opportunities.
The Canada–US relationship has been a focus for decades because it’s such a significant and natural market. Despite current tensions, it remains robust. I see it as an “and” model—we should build in Canada, grow globally, and continue to leverage that relationship. Companies in the US are strong, but companies in the US plus Canada are stronger, and that combination has been powerful and can continue to be if it’s nurtured.
What needs to change for Canada to become a leading global tech nation?
The opportunity is real, and for the first time in over 30 years, there’s a burning platform for protecting the country—the risk would be wasting it. Canada has been a longtime leader in tech, but some of that has atrophied, and we carry significant tech debt. There’s an opportunity for the government to lead as a model user, embrace technology, build sovereign capability where needed, and invest carefully in companies that can truly scale in areas where Canada has unique strengths. If we build core capabilities, create jobs first, and export IP and domestic capability second, we can address productivity and achieve global ambition.
Our message is that we want to be the voice of the industry—we want to speak for all. And part of that is about getting comfortable being uncomfortable, because reaching that ambition will require scaling—not 2x, not 3x, probably 5x of what we’re producing today.
We already produce about $300 billion, roughly 6% of GDP, and when you consider procurement and the role tech plays across industry and government, we’re a significant economic player. Growth means we deserve a seat at the table, and we’re working to ensure industry and government are aligned in delivering it.
